The popular cute sleep app and Pokémon Go companion Pokémon Sleep is getting a much-requested feature. Until now, Pokémon Sleep has relied on a phone’s motion sensor and microphone to detect the duration and quality of sleep—the better the quality of your sleep, the more Pokémon are attracted to your soothing vibes. A recent official announcement, however, stated that you can finally sync the app with your best smartwatch or Fitbit.
The news was announced in a video (embedded below) that shows a Dratini and a Chikorita curled around a wrist, among other cute Pokémon animations that I don’t recognize (I’ve only played the first few generations, obviously).
The Pokémon Sleep Website provides an overview of compatible devices, including all Apple Watches from the Apple Watch Series 3 onwards, all Samsung Galaxy Watches, the Samsung Galaxy Fit (but not the Fit E), and the Samsung Galaxy Ring.
All Google Pixel Watches are compatible, and many Fitbits: the incompatible ones are listed as “Fitbit Classic, Fitbit Ultra, Fitbit One, Fitbit Zip, Fitbit Flex, Fitbit Force, Fitbit Charge, Fitbit Charge HR, Fitbit Surge, Fitbit Alta, Fitbit Ace, Fitbit Ace 2, Fitbit Ace 3, Fitbit Inspire and Fitbit Ace LTE. “
Analysis: The Pokémon Company is a Slowpokes
This compatibility feature seemed like a given from the start, perhaps even from launch. But while we can imagine that many adult Pokémon fans will use the app as an incentive to get a good night’s sleep, so will many children (Pokémon’s original target audience).
Kids don’t always have access to a smartwatch, so it didn’t necessarily matter that Pokémon Sleep launched without smartwatch accessibility. However, since most of the best sleep trackers are wrist-based (or even now finger-based with the advent of smart rings), it made sense to add compatibility eventually.
Most of the big players have compatibility here: Apple, Google, Samsung, etc., but there’s one thing missing: the Fitbit Ace LTE. The only smartwatch aimed at kids, it only launched last month — but so did the Galaxy Ring. So I wonder why the Ace LTE didn’t make the cut.